After 180 years, Taunton area labor trailblazer, 'Female Preacher' gets gravestone

Kristina Fontes, The Taunton Daily Gazette
·4 min read

After more than 180 years, Salome Lincoln Mowry, who led an early labor demonstration in Taunton, and drew thousands from all over New England to hear her preach, has a gravestone.

Until now, her grave in Pleasant View Cemetery in Tiverton, Rhode Island, did not have a marker indicating who this impressive woman was.

Thanks to her descendants, as well as help from Ron Helger of Tiverton, and Albanese Monuments of Westport, that has now changed.

Salome Lincoln was the subject of a previous Women of Taunton story.

She was born in Raynham in 1807. When she was a young woman working at a mill in Taunton, she was part of a group of more than 60 women who led a labor demonstration downtown to protest wage cuts. Though there is no record of the speech she gave, as the women would not allow anyone into the hall they marched into, Lincoln was chosen to speak to her fellow workers during this protest.

Salome Lincoln Mowry, pictured on the frontispiece of "The Female Preacher, or, Memoir of Salome Lincoln, Afterwards the Wife of Elder Junia S. Mowry," by Almond H. Davis, a memoir of Mowry's life.
Salome Lincoln Mowry, pictured on the frontispiece of "The Female Preacher, or, Memoir of Salome Lincoln, Afterwards the Wife of Elder Junia S. Mowry," by Almond H. Davis, a memoir of Mowry's life.

That was just the beginning of what would become her vocation.

'The Female Preacher'

She would go on to be known as “The Female Preacher,” at a time when it was not popular for women to step up to the pulpit. She had the respect of many of her male counterparts though, and her husband, Junia S. Mowry, was himself a preacher. Lincoln’s biographer was also a clergyman, who held her in high esteem.

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She often preached without notes, her commanding presence and well-toned voice drawing in huge crowds for her sermons.

Thousands of people came from all over New England to hear her speak.

Women of Taunton: Salome Lincoln Mowry was an early labor leader and 'The Female Preacher'

All of that would be cut short, as she unfortunately died quite young, at just 33 years old.

She gave birth to a baby girl in March 1841, and never recovered her health, dying in July of what was described as “consumption.” This was most likely tuberculosis, although “consumption” in the 19th century was used to describe various illnesses.

Lincoln wished to be buried with her first daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who had died as a toddler in 1839. Her daughter’s grave was at Pleasant View Cemetery in Tiverton, and so that was where Lincoln was buried, with a midnight funeral ceremony (they’d had to bring her over Mount Hope Bay, waiting on the tide).

Pleasant View Cemetery in Tiverton, on Old Stone Church Road.
Pleasant View Cemetery in Tiverton, on Old Stone Church Road.

How the gravestone came to be

The Taunton Daily Gazette, while researching Lincoln’s story in Aug. 2021, paid a visit to Pleasant View, only to discover that Lincoln had no obvious gravestone; just her name, mentioned on Mary Elizabeth’s grave.

The grave of Mary Elizabeth Mowry, at Pleasant View Cemetery in Tiverton, Rhode Island. She was the daughter of Salome Lincoln Mowry; her mother wished to be buried with her child.
The grave of Mary Elizabeth Mowry, at Pleasant View Cemetery in Tiverton, Rhode Island. She was the daughter of Salome Lincoln Mowry; her mother wished to be buried with her child.

This woman who had touched thousands of lives had no marker to show who she was.

Her Women of Taunton article was published, and that seemed to be the end of the story.

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Thanks to some Lincoln relatives who reached out to the Gazette, it wasn’t.

Her relatives, who wish to remain anonymous, generously began the process of getting a headstone made for her, when their own efforts to see if perhaps she’d had a stone at one point came up empty.

Salome Lincoln's relatives, who wished to remain anonymous, reached out to the Gazette about getting a gravestone for her, after it was discovered that she didn't have one.
Salome Lincoln's relatives, who wished to remain anonymous, reached out to the Gazette about getting a gravestone for her, after it was discovered that she didn't have one.

First, she had to be found.

Ron Helger, who keeps “The Book” for Pleasant View, stepped in to help, trying to find Lincoln in the burial records. He said there was no record of a plot being owned by any Lincolns or Mowrys.

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When the Gazette explained that Junia S. Mowry had been preaching in Tiverton for some time, Helger cracked the case:

Lincoln was buried in the ministry lot.

That’s why neither her name, nor her husband’s, was listed as owning the plot.

She really was buried right in front of her daughter, Mary Elizabeth.

Salome Lincoln, a trailblazer in early labor efforts in Taunton, and renowned later as "The Female Preacher" now has a gravestone where she's buried in Pleasant View Cemetery in Tiverton, Rhode Island. Her daughter Mary Elizabeth's grave is seen in the background. Lincoln wished to be buried near her child.
Salome Lincoln, a trailblazer in early labor efforts in Taunton, and renowned later as "The Female Preacher" now has a gravestone where she's buried in Pleasant View Cemetery in Tiverton, Rhode Island. Her daughter Mary Elizabeth's grave is seen in the background. Lincoln wished to be buried near her child.

Once Lincoln was well and truly found, the next step was reaching out to Albanese Monuments in Westport, to have a stone made for her.

Salome Lincoln, 1807-1841. Preacher, activist, wife, mother. At rest with the Lord. Lincoln, a trailblazer in early labor efforts in Taunton, and renowned later as "The Female Preacher" now has a gravestone where she's buried in Pleasant View Cemetery in Tiverton, Rhode Island.
Salome Lincoln, 1807-1841. Preacher, activist, wife, mother. At rest with the Lord. Lincoln, a trailblazer in early labor efforts in Taunton, and renowned later as "The Female Preacher" now has a gravestone where she's buried in Pleasant View Cemetery in Tiverton, Rhode Island.

Jenn Leite, her mother Joan, and her brother Billy — he did the sandblasting — were generous with their time and work, providing the headstone at no cost to Lincoln’s relatives.

Now, anyone who happens by will know who Salome Lincoln was:

Preacher.

Activist.

Wife.

Mother.

The final line on her stone is one that Lincoln would have approved of:

“At rest with the Lord.”

Taunton Daily Gazette/Herald News copy editor and digital producer Kristina Fontes can be reached at kfontes@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Women of Taunton Salome Lincoln gets gravestone after 180 years